Resource allocation method and orchestrator for network slicing in the wireless access network

ABSTRACT

A resource allocation method for network slicing and an orchestrator, comprising: uniformly incorporating resources originally bundled statically with the base station into a dynamic resource pool; allocating, by an orchestrator, resources from among the dynamic resource pool for the network slicing based on different network slicing requirements. A static corresponding/mapping relationship between the hardware/radio resources and the base station is broken, such that hardware/radio resources (e.g., radio access network Virtual Network Function (RAN VNF), baseband unit (BBU), RRH (Remote Radio Head) as well as antenna) that originally corresponded to different base stations will be organized as an integrated and dynamic hardware/radio resource pool and reported to the orchestrator, such that the orchestrator will centrally manage all hardware/radio resources in this pool and then sufficiently utilize and dynamically orchestrate these hardware/radio resources based different needs from the network slicing.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to network slicing in awireless network, and more particularly to a method and apparatus fornetwork slicing in a radio access network (RAN).

BACKGROUND

Currently, network slicing is a very hot topic in the discussion of 3GPP5G. Network slicing is mostly discussed in 5G. Network operators such asKT, SK Telecom, China Mobile, DT, KDDI, and NIT and device manufacturerssuch as Ericsson, Nokia, and Huawei all believe that network slicing isan ideal network architecture in the 5G era. This novel technologyenables an operator to slice a hardware infrastructure into a pluralityof virtual end-to-end network, where individual network slicings arelogically isolated between a device, an access network, a transmissionnetwork, and a core network, thereby being adapted to differentcharacteristic needs of various types of businesses.

Till the current 4G network, the mobile network mainly serves mobilephones, where generally only some optimizations are made to mobilephones. However, in the 5G era, the mobile network needs to servevarious types of devices and various demands. Application scenarios for5G which are mentioned relatively frequently include: mobile broadband,large-scale of IoT (Internet of Things), and task-critical IoT. They allneed different types of networks and have different requirements onmobility, charging, security, policy control, delay, and reliability,etc. For example, a large-scale IoT service is connected to fixedsensors to measure temperature, humidity, and precipitation, etc. Thosecharacteristics that mainly serve handover, location update and the likeof mobile phones in the mobile network will not be needed any more. Inaddition, the task-critical IoT services such as auto driving and remoterobot control requires an end-to-end delay of only several milliseconds,which is largely different from mobile broadband services.

For each network slicing, dedicated resources such as virtual server,network bandwidth, and service quality are all sufficiently guaranteed.Due to mutual isolation between slicings, error or fault of one slicingwill not affect communications of other slicings.

Traditional hardware and radio access network equipment such as BBU(Base Band Unit), RRH (Remote Radio Head) and antenna have to belong toa certain base station. This kind of static mapping betweenhardware/radio resources and the base station can't fulfill therequirement about creating, updating and deleting a network slicingdynamically, which is the key character of 5G network slicing. At thesame time, such kind of static mapping can't make full use ofhardware/radio resources either. Furthermore, due to existence of suchstatic mapping, the workload of network planning is quite high.

By far, most discussions about network slicing are related to the corenetwork, while fewer discussions are focusing on network slicing of RAN(radio access network); especially there is no practical solution tomodel the hardware and radio resources as inputs of an orchestrator.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problems existing in the prior art, embodiments ofthe present disclosure provide a solution for setting up a resourcemodel for network slicing. Specifically, a static corresponding/mappingrelationship between the hardware/radio resources and the base stationis broken, such that hardware/radio resources (e.g., radio accessnetwork VNF (Virtual Network Function), baseband unit (BBU), RRH (RemoteRadio Head) as well as antenna) that originally corresponded todifferent base stations will be organized as an integrated and dynamichardware/radio resource pool and reported to the orchestrator, such thatthe orchestrator will centrally manage all hardware/radio resources inthis pool and then sufficiently utilize and dynamically orchestratethese hardware/radio resources based different needs from the networkslicing.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a resource allocatingmethod for network slicing, comprising: a. uniformly incorporatingresources originally bundled statically with the base station into adynamic resource pool; b. allocating, by an orchestrator, resources fromamong the dynamic resource pool for the network slicing based ondifferent network slicing requirements.

According to a specific embodiment of the first aspect, the step afurther comprises: when a new resource is available for the dynamicresource pool, initiating, by a network device where the new resource islocated, a report to a network side; and updating the dynamic resourcepool based on the report.

According to a specific embodiment of the first aspect, in the step b,resources serving different service types in the dynamic resource poolare allocated independent of each other.

According to a specific embodiment of the first aspect, the resourcesinclude at least one of the following: a virtual network function (VNF),a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio head (RRH), and an antenna.

According to a specific embodiment of the first aspect, the method isadapted to network slicing of a radio access network.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, an orchestratorin a wireless network is provided, comprising: a first unit configuredto uniformly incorporate resources originally bundled statically withthe base station into a dynamic resource pool; and a second unitconfigured to allocate resources from among the dynamic resource poolfor the network slicing based on different network slicing requirements.

According to a specific embodiment of the second aspect, the first unitis further configured to: when a new resource is available for thedynamic resource pool, obtain a report that is initiated by a networkdevice where the new resource is located to a network side; and updatethe dynamic resource pool based on the report.

According to a specific embodiment of the second aspect, the second unitis further configured to allocate resources serving different servicetypes in the dynamic resource pool independent of each other.

According to a specific embodiment of the second aspect, the resourcesinclude at least one of the following: a virtual network function (VNF),a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio head (RRH), and an antenna.

According to a specific embodiment of the second aspect, theorchestrator is adapted to network slicing of a radio access network.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda wireless network comprising the orchestrator mentioned above.

Compared with the prior art, the method and apparatus according to theembodiments of the present disclosure enable an orchestrator to manageand sufficiently utilize the hardware resources and radio resourcesbased on different needs of respective network slicing by modeling thehardware resources and radio resources, thereby making network slicingof the radio access network feasible. Meanwhile, the workload caused bynetwork planning will also be significantly lowered, and the processingcapacities of the network device are saved, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features, objectives, and advantages of the present disclosurewill become more apparent through reading detailed description of thenon-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of a resource allocation method for networkslicing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a modular block diagram of an orchestrator for networkslicing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a model established for RAN VNF resources according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a model established for BBU resources according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a model established for RRH resources according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a model established for antenna resources according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of implement plug-and-play of a new deviceand creating network slicing according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8a shows an example of allocating resources from among a dynamicresource pool according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8b shows another example of allocating resources from among adynamic resource pool according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In the accompanying drawings, same or like references represent same orsimilar components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Taking eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broad Band), mMTC (Massive Machine TypeCommunication), uRLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low latency Communication) andsignaling for the basic coverage as a typical example, due to the hugedifferences between the four services, the resource consumptions ofthese four services are also quite different, to divide the requiredresources into the individual slices and manage every slice separatelywill fit the diversified requirement of every service to perfection. Theexample of the context in the present disclosure mainly involves thefollowing four typical resources. Those skilled in the art understandthat other radio resources and hardware resources may be subject to asimilar modelling and uniform management and allocation according tothis manner.

The four exemplary radio resources include: RAN VNF resource, BBUresource, RRH resource, and antenna resource. Under the premise of notcausing ambiguity, these resources are also called RAN VNF (or VNF),BBU, RRH and antenna for short.

FIG. 1 illustrates a brief flow diagram of a resource allocation methodfor network slicing according to the present disclosure. The method istypically applied to network slicing of a radio access network, therebyfilling the blank left due to only focusing the core network in theprior art.

In step S1, the resources originally statically bundled with the basestation into a dynamic resource pool. The resources here include, but nolimited to, the hardware and/or radio resources mentioned above, whereinthe radio resources for example refer to one or more in the fourexamples above.

In step S2, the orchestrator allocates resources for the network slicingfrom among the dynamic resource pool based on demand of differentnetwork slices, wherein the different network slicings may refer to atleast one of the following: a network slicing for eMBB, a networkslicing for mMTC, a network slicing for uRLLC, and a network slicing forsignaling for the basic coverage.

FIGS. 3-6 show models established for the 4 kinds of radio resources.

Modelling for VNF Resources

In the VNF resource model, the following parameters are defined for eachservice (corresponding to a network slicing, respectively) supported bythe VNF resource: maximum number of users, maximum data volume for busyhour, and the maximum number of VNF instance.

Modeling for BBU Resources

In the modelling for BBU resources, the following parameters andinformation need to be defined for each service (corresponding to anetwork slicing, respectively) supported by the BBU resource: thesupported type of radio access technology (such as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5Getc.) and the number of BBU nodes for corresponding service.

Modelling for RRH Resources

The usage of RRH is quite related to the spectrum planning of the user.Therefore, every RRH resource node needs to report its attribution, suchas the supported radio access technology (such as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5Getc.), the supported spectrum band, spectrum frequency, bandwidth, thepath number and also the maximum number of carriers for every RRH. Also,RRH may report the supported service type.

Modelling for Antenna Resources

In most times, the usage of antenna resources is bundled with the usageof RRH. At first, the availability of the antenna is constrained to thephysical connection with RRH; therefore, every antenna resource nodeneeds to report the connected RRH ID, and also the supported spectrumband, spectrum frequency, bandwidth and the path number, etc.

It needs to be noted that different network slicings may be mapped to asame RAN VNF or to different RAN VNFs, which are specifically determinedby the orchestrator in conjunction with deployment demands and themaximum processing capacity of the VNF.

Report of the above information may occur in step S1 shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows a modular block diagram of an orchestrator 4 for networkslicing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shownin the figure, the orchestrator 4 comprises a first unit 42 and a secondunit 44, wherein the first unit 42 is configured to uniformlyincorporate resources originally bundled statically with the basestation into a dynamic resource pool, corresponding to the content instep S1 of the method shown in FIG. 1; and the second unit 44 isconfigured to allocate resources from among the dynamic resource poolfor the network slicing based on different network slicing requirements,corresponding to the content in step S2 of the method corresponding toFIG. 1.

Specifically, the first unit 42 is further configured to when a newresource is available for the dynamic resource pool, obtain a reportthat is initiated by a network device where the new resource is locatedto a network side; and update the dynamic resource pool based on thereport.

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of implement plug-and-play of a new deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; specifically, itis embodied as automatic orchestration of hardware and/or radioresources, i.e., plug-and-play.

Based on the modeling for various resources as shown in flow diagram 1and FIGS. 3-6, when a new resource node (i.e., a device providing newhardware and/or radio resources) is added to the network (S10 and S12),the capability and attribute of at least of RAN VNF, BBU, RRH, andantenna resource pool need to be reported to the orchestrator based onthe contents shown in FIGS. 3-6 (S14). Based on the report from the RAN,the orchestrator (see relevant descriptions regarding FIG. 1 and FIG. 2)may update the information of various resources in the dynamic resourcepool, thereby uniformly managing and sufficiently utilizing all hardwareand/or radio resources and implementing network slicing (S16, S2).

Therefore, when the user (e.g., operator) needs to add a new networkslicing type due to business development requirements, the user maydeploy/add such a hardware/radio resource node in the step S10; afterthe device is opened, the user inputs the business requirements (e.g.,maximum number of users, maximum data volume for busy hour, etc.) to theorchestrator 4 through the plug-and-play step in the step S12. Theorchestrator 4 will merge the business needs from the operator and thereports from resource nodes to collectively orchestrate all resources,thereby sufficiently utilizing all hardware and/or radio resources andsufficiently reducing the workload of network planning.

FIGS. 8a and 8b show two different examples of allocating resources in acentralized dynamic resource pool, wherein an elliptic curve circles acertain radio resource from a resource node. It is seen that indifferent examples (e.g., based on the configuration from the operatorand/or based on a report from the network node), the actual resourcescorresponding to the network slices will become very flexible. As anexample, in FIG. 8a , the three sets of resources (VNF2, BBU node 1, andRRU3 and Ant3) are allocated to the eMBB network slice, while VNF1 andBBU node 2 are allocated to be shared among the other three types ofservices, while in FIG. 8b , due to changes of resource demands andattribute report, the relationship between the resource node and thenetwork slicing will be re-established and updated such that theresources are utilized most sufficiently.

It should be noted that some exemplary embodiments are described asprocesses or methods depicted as flow diagrams. Although the flowdiagrams describe various operations as sequential processing, manyoperations therein may be implemented in parallel, concurrently orsimultaneously. Besides, the sequence of various operations may bere-arranged. When the operations are completed, the processing may beterminated; besides, there may also include additional steps that arenot included in the drawings. The processing may correspond to a method,a function, a specification, a sub-routine, a sub-program, etc.

The “computer device” herein (also referred to as “the computer”) refersto a smart electronic device that may execute a predetermined processingprocess such as numerical computation and/or logic computation byrunning a predetermined program or instruction, which may comprise aprocessor and a memory, wherein the processor executes a programinstruction prestored in the memory to execute the predeterminedprocessing process, or executes the predetermined processing processusing hardware such as ASIC, FPGA, and DSP, or executes by thecombination of the two above. The computer device includes, but notlimited to, a server, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, atablet computer, a smart phone, and etc.

The computer device for example includes a user equipment and a networkdevice. Particularly, the user equipment includes, but not limited to, apersonal computer (PC), a laptop computer, and a mobile terminal, etc.;the mobile terminal includes, but not limited to, a smart phone, a PDA,and etc.; the network device includes, but not limited to, a singlenetwork server, a server group consisting of a plurality of networkservers, or a cloud consisting a large number of computers or networkservers based on cloud computing, wherein the cloud computing is a kindof distributed computing, i.e., a hypervisor consisting of a group ofloosely coupled computer sets. Particularly, the computer device mayoperate to implement the present disclosure individually or may accessto a network to implement the present disclosure through an interactiveoperation with other computer devices in the network. Particularly, thenetwork where the computer device is located includes, but not limitedto, the Internet, a Wide Area Network, a Metropolitan Area Network, aLocal Area Network, a VPN network, etc.

It needs to be noted that the user equipment, network device, andnetwork here are only examples, and other existing or future possiblyemerging computer devices or networks, if applicable to the presentdisclosure, but also may be included within the protection scope of thepresent disclosure, which are incorporated here by reference.

The methods that will be discussed infra (some of which will beillustrated through flow diagrams) may be implemented through hardware,software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptive languageor any combination thereof. When they are implemented using software,firmware, middleware or microcode, the program codes or code segmentsfor implementing essential tasks may be stored in a computer or computerreadable medium (e.g., storage medium). (One or more) processors mayimplement essential tasks.

The specific structures and functional details disclosed here are onlyrepresentative and intended to describe the exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Further, the present disclosure may be specificallyimplemented by a plurality of alternative modes and should not beconstrued to being only limited to the embodiments illustrated herein.

It should be understood that, although terms like “first” and “second”may be used here to describe respective units, these units should not belimited by these terms. Use of these terms are only for distinguishingone unit from another unit. For example, without departing from thescope of exemplary embodiments, a first unit may be referred to as asecond unit, and likewise the second unit may be referred to as thefirst unit. The term “and/or” used here includes any and allcombinations of one or more associated items as listed.

It should be understood that when a unit is referred to being“connected” or “coupled” to another unit, it may be directly connectedor coupled to said another unit, or a medium unit may exist. Incontrast, when a unit is referred to being “directly connected” or“directly coupled” to another unit, a medium unit does not exist. Otherexpressions (e.g., “located between . . . ” vs. “directly locatedbetween . . . ,” and “adjacent to . . . ” vs. “directly adjacent to . .. ,” etc.) for describing a relation between units should be construedin a similar manner.

The term used here is only for describing preferred embodiments, notintended to limit the exemplary embodiments. Unless otherwise indicated,a singular form “a(n)” or “one” used here is also intended to coverplurality. It should also be understood that the terms “comprise” and/or“include” as used here limit the presence of features, integers, steps,operations, units and/or components as stated, but do not excludepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, units, components and/or combinations.

It should also be mentioned that in some alternative implementations,the functions/actions as mentioned may occur according to the sequencesdifferent from what are indicated in the drawings. For example,dependent on the functions/actions as involved, two successivelyindicated diagrams actually may be executed substantially simultaneouslyor sometimes may be executed in a reverse order.

It should be noted that the present invention may be implemented insoftware and/or a combination of software and hardware. For example,each module of the present invention may be implemented by anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or any other similarhardware device. In one embodiment, the software program of the presentinvention may be executed through a processor to implement the steps orfunctions as mentioned above. Likewise, the software program (includingrelevant data structure) of the present invention may be stored in acomputer readable recording medium, e.g., RAM memory, magnetic or opticdriver or soft floppy or similar devices. Additionally, some steps orfunctions of the present invention may be implemented by hardware, forexample, a circuit cooperating with the processor so as to implementvarious steps of functions.

To those skilled in the art, it is apparent that the present inventionis not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, andthe present invention may be implemented with other embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit or basic features of the present invention.Thus, in any way, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary, notlimitative; the scope of the present invention is limited by theappended claims, instead of the above depiction. Thus, all variationsintended to fall into the meaning and scope of equivalent elements ofthe claims should be covered within the present invention. No referencesigns in the claims should be regarded as limiting the involved claims.Besides, it is apparent that the term “comprise” does not exclude otherunits or steps, and singularity does not exclude plurality. A pluralityof units or modules stated in a system claim may also be implemented bya single unit or module through software or hardware. Terms such as thefirst and the second are used to indicate names, but do not indicate anyparticular sequence.

Although exemplary embodiments have been specifically illustrated anddescribed, those skilled in the art will understand that withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the claims, their forms anddetails may be varied. The protection as sought for here will beillustrated in the appended claims.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A resource allocating method and an orchestratorfor network slicing, comprising: uniformly incorporating resourcesoriginally bundled statically with the base station into a dynamicresource pool; allocating, by the orchestrator, resources from among thedynamic resource pool for the network slicing based on different networkslicing requirements.
 15. The resource allocating method according toclaim 14, wherein the uniformly incorporating resources furthercomprises: when a new resource is available for the dynamic resourcepool, initiating, by a network device where the new resource is located,a report to a network side; updating the dynamic resource pool based onthe report.
 16. The resource allocating method according to claim 14,wherein in the allocating, resources serving different service types inthe dynamic resource pool are allocated independent of each other. 17.The resource allocating method according to claim 16, wherein theresources include at least one of the following: a virtual networkfunction, a baseband unit, a remote radio head, and an antenna.
 18. Theresource allocating method according to claim 14, wherein the method isadapted to network slicing of a radio access network.
 19. The resourceallocating method according to claim 14, wherein different networkslicing may refer to at least one of the following: a network slicingfor eMBB enhanced Mobile Broad Band, a network slicing for mMTC MassiveMachine Type Communication, a network slicing for uRLLC Ultra-ReliableLow Latency Communication, and a network slicing for signaling for thebasic coverage.
 20. An orchestrator in a wireless network, comprising: afirst unit configured to uniformly incorporate resources originallybundled statically with the base station into a dynamic resource pool; asecond unit configured to allocate resources from among the dynamicresource pool for the network slicing based on different network slicingrequirements.
 21. The orchestrator according to claim 20, wherein thefirst unit is further configured to: when a new resource is availablefor the dynamic resource pool, obtain a report that is initiated by anetwork device where the new resource is located to a network side;update the dynamic resource pool based on the report.
 22. Theorchestrator according to claim 20, wherein the second unit is furtherconfigured to allocate resources serving different service types in thedynamic resource pool independent of each other.
 23. The orchestratoraccording to claim 22, wherein the resources include at least one of thefollowing: a virtual network function, a baseband unit, a remote radiohead, and an antenna.
 24. The orchestrator according to claim 20,wherein the orchestrator is adapted to network slicing of a radio accessnetwork.
 25. The orchestrator according to claim 20, wherein differentnetwork slicing may refer to at least one of the following: a networkslicing for eMBB enhanced Mobile Broad Band, a network slicing for mMTCMassive Machine Type Communication, a network slicing for uRLLCUltra-Reliable Low Latency Communication, and a network slicing forsignaling for the basic coverage.
 26. A wireless network comprising theorchestrator according to claim 20.